Chapter 14 Leylin

Leylin analysed the only corpse which showed signs of being murdered. The slit throat told a tale; "Analyse," Leylin thought.

[Beep! Task Established...…..Analysis complete]

[Beep! Name: Unknown Age: 14 Gender: Female [Status: Deceased, Time of death:110-98 hours ago…..Cause of death….excessive loss of blood….The jugular vein and carotid artery severed….no signs of struggle...…. Chronic physical trauma...inline with sustained sexual abuse.]

Leylin thought, "So, I was right about Victor the man was a deviant; Victor most likely groomed this girl from a young age to run this hell hole." He suspected Victor right when he found out all the information about the man. Squeaky clean, on the outside, seemed like a real upstanding guy who held great prestige in society and taught music to poor kids for free.

"I can trust a man's greed, lust, loyalty even but his altruism never. More often than not, altruism is a garb for the worst excesses of man." Leylin vowed to himself.

He looked at the children with pity. He didn't need to analyse to know what had happened. He felt bile rise from his throat.

"You know, Roran, It was probably my fault this ended like this." He sighed.

"If we hadn't spooked him so badly, he would have probably not killed this girl, and the rest of them would have lived too. Our actions have consequences. Had he not killed this girl, she would have probably kept these other kids fed." Leylin said.

Roran was left speechless; tears welled up in his eyes.

Now they have died so miserably, slowly dying as thirst and hunger tormented them. Leylin wondered what the last one that survived was thinking, watching as the only world he knew was consumed by maggots.

Leylin always thought he was a utilitarian, but this made him reconsider. No one deserved to die like this. What would he have done had he reincarnated as one of those children? Even with nuerolink, would he have been killed like them?

"Everything is Pain," He thought out of nowhere. For some reason, he felt he needed to comprehend the meaning of that phrase.

"A magus is strong because he feels pain. He feels the difference between what the world is and what he would make of it. A magus is strong because he hurts more than others. His wound is his strength. Most people carry that pain inside them their entire lives until they kill it with other means or it kills them. But magus they discovered another way: a way to exploit the pain. To use as fuel for light and heat. Learnt to break the world that has tried to break them." The answer came just as quickly, whether it was this world or the previous one. They were all the same.

"He vowed he would change his fate. He will not live in pain. He will use it as fuel." He thought he felt his resolve harden.

He resolutely moved to the bookshelves. He found books and materials of interesting potion recipes bounded, field manuals. He scanned the table to see if there was anything of import. But, unfortunately, there was little else except for books. He had hoped that he would find a diary or something, but Leylin was disappointed.

Leylin was disappointed with what he had found. He nearly died for this?

He looked at Roran. He could see his pain and thought, "Locke rescued him; Of course, that moron wouldn't have seen around to check if there was anything of value."

"He was a dark magus, Roran. Once I ensure there are no curses or dangerous text. Then, go to the village and discretely spread a rumour about what you saw here. The families deserve closure." He said

"Couldn't we take the children and return them to their parents?" Roran asked.

"Had Roran caught the stupidity bug from Locke?" Leylin thought.

"No, Roran, we cannot; dark magus seldom operate alone, and I don't have the strength to protect us from retribution. Moreover, we could also be blamed for Victor's crimes," He bluntly cut him off.

"I will remove all dangerous artefacts and books from this place. That way, it will be safe for villagers to come and collect the children." He continued.

"Why did you leave him alive?" Roran couldn't stop himself.

Leylin paused; he was not here as a hero; he was heard because he wanted Victor's resources.

He thought for a moment, "reputation is a resource. Having the goodwill and respect of those that follow me is very useful. It will hopefully inspire loyalty among those that follow me. If they fear you, they will kill for you. If they are loyal to you, they will die for you.

Moreover, my reputation will slowly spread and improve my image. My reputation could help me avoid some problems by being above suspicion. This will also get other magi to underestimate me, which will benefit me immensely."

"Dark Magus have many tricks; one of them is that when they are killed, they could have curses on them that will ensure their killers will not have a pleasant life. Which is why when I heard of this man and correlated his behaviour, I was certain that Victor was a dark Magus and planned to capture him alive while ensuring his nefarious activities stop." He spoke

He looked at Roran look at him with admiration and thought, "People are predisposed to believe what fits their worldview best. Roran believes I am noble, so he believes my bullshit."

"Roran, I want you to bring the chests from the cart." He commanded.

By the time they trekked down the hill, it was noon.

Leylin instructed, "Roran, Move the chests to the cart and attach the horses to the cart."

He left Roran to his task as he went to the charred forest.

"Scan for active radiation sources," He thought.

[Beep! Task established... Scanning complete]

[single source 40m to northeast. A cluster of sources 63m West]

Leylin walked northeast. He was pleasantly surprised to find the broken magical equipment that Victor had used. That by itself was worth it. How a 2nd rank acolyte managed to get his hands on something like this was mind-boggling. He then went to the second radiation source and found a bag with 20 magic crystals, a book, and a diary. "jackpot," he thought.

The book was weird. It had nothing written on it but looked very valuable.

"Scan," He thought.

[Beep! Unable to decipher contents....Unknown Radiation Source.]

He was surprised by the revelation. He put the contents back into the bag and also put the ring in it.

Leylin went back to the clearing. He took the last chest and walked towards the cart. He gave the hill one last look, vowing not to end up like those children. It was night by the time they reached a nearby village.